Traditionally, the bench to the left of the chair umpire is reserved for the higher-ranked player in a tennis match. In the case of the year-end match at the ATP World Tour Finals between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, the honor should have gone to Djokovic, the world No. 1.

But Federer entered the O2 Arena first for Monday's final and took the chair for himself. It's a familiar seat -- no man in history has spent more weeks at No. 1 than Federer -- but one that wasn't supposed to be his on Monday evening.

As noted by a number of tennis observers on Twitter, Djokovic appeared to notice the faux pas when he entered and seemed annoyed. He went on to lose the first nine points of the match en route to a quick 0-3 deficit. That's not saying there's any causation, mind you. Yet players, even ones with as much talent as Djokovic, have been thrown off by less.

He would rally to win the first set, 7-6.

Did Federer sit in the seat on purpose, to send a message? Was it a mistake? Does Federer always assume he's the top-ranked player in the room? I bet if Federer met the president and someone in the room said, "Mr. President, there's an urgent call for you," Federer would dig his phone out of his pocket to see who was ringing him.

It was probably a harmless accident or maybe they broke with tradition on purpose and we're all reading too much into Djokovic's reaction. For what it's worth, Federer and Djokovic both sat in the proper seats during Sunday's semifinal wins.

lol..could be an accident by fed or deliberate as if to say..'hey djoko im the no1 302 weeks baby' :twisted:

is it deviousfed or genuinemistakefed ?? who knows :?

on youtube, i was looking at a while back at wimby 88 final (i think not 89 or 90)..they were walking on to centre court and boris sat down first in edbergs chair :twisted: steffan defo didnt like it but didnt say anything, but i think knowing becker that it was a deliberate move..sadly for me and him it didnt help as becker lost the final.

The seat Federer sat in had Djokovic's towel draped across it (with the name NOVAK DJOKOVIC printed on it, clear as day). Now instead of going to the seat that had HIS towel, he chose to disrespect Djokovic and intentionally took his bench.

When Djokovic entered the arena, his towel had been moved to Federer's bench.

lol..could be an accident by fed or deliberate as if to say..'hey djoko im the no1 302 weeks baby' :twisted:

is it deviousfed or genuinemistakefed ?? who knows :?

on youtube, i was looking at a while back at wimby 88 final (i think not 89 or 90)..they were walking on to centre court and boris sat down first in edbergs chair :twisted: steffan defo didnt like it but didnt say anything, but i think knowing becker that it was a deliberate move..sadly for me and him it didnt help as becker lost the final.

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I can confirm that it was 1988. It was the other way round, wasn't it? There were many rain delays, most of the match being played on the third Monday. On one of the walks back onto court, Edberg was eager to get to the chair, and forgot to bow to the Royal box (which was a "tradition" at Wimbledon up to 2002 for all matches on centre court), so Becker called Edberg back. After they bowed to the Royal box, Edberg got the wrong chair as well. Edberg won the match, though, by 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The seat Federer sat in had Djokovic's towel draped across it (with the name NOVAK DJOKOVIC printed on it, clear as day). Now instead of going to the seat that had HIS towel, he chose to disrespect Djokovic and intentionally took his bench.

When Djokovic entered the arena, his towel had been moved to Federer's bench.

I think you might have a pretty good point. This act shows the sociopath in Federer. Deeply bitter narcissistic and sinister when someone robs him of his glory. You see the mask come off for a second and the ugly terrifyingly cold and uncareing person underneath. Now before you laugh me off or call me a troll, this is something a sociopath tries utmost to keep secret. There are shades of this sociopathic behaviour in his relationship with Mirka. What type of person would court the woman of his life and use her over and over and over again for years and year like a dirty dishrag and not marry her like Federer did?

Some of you readers might not be a father, but let me tell you if someone did that to my daughter for years and years I would not be able to control myself from the outage of such maltreatment. Although Federer's PR team keeps it under wraps its quite likely that Mirka's parents had to wage a war against Federer in order to get him to marry Mirka after he impregnated her. They likely threatened Federer that they could come out with the real story, and destroy his career much like it did Tiger Woods.

Another interesting point. Many sociopaths have no internal identity. Instead they try to assume the identiy of others. Was he in some small way trying to assume a small bit of Djokovics identity by sitting in his chair?

I think you might have a pretty good point. This act shows the sociopath in Federer. Deeply bitter narcissistic and sinister when someone robs him of his glory. You see the mask come off for a second and the ugly terrifyingly cold and uncareing person underneath. Now before you laugh me off or call me a troll, this is something a sociopath tries utmost to keep secret. There are shades of this sociopathic behaviour in his relationship with Mirka. What type of person would court the woman of his life and use her over and over and over again for years and year like a dirty dishrag and not marry her like Federer did?

Some of you readers might not be a father, but let me tell you if someone did that to my daughter for years and years I would not be able to control myself from the outage of such maltreatment. Although Federer's PR team keeps it under wraps its quite likely that Mirka's parents had to wage a war against Federer in order to get him to marry Mirka after he impregnated her. They likely threatened Federer that they could come out with the real story, and destroy his career much like it did Tiger Woods.

Another interesting point. Many sociopaths have no internal identity. Instead they try to assume the identiy of others. Was he in some small way trying to assume a small bit of Djokovics identity by sitting in his chair?

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oh boy! So by your logic, Mirka's parents forced a sociopath to get married to their daughter by threatening to reveal that he is a sociopath?
and all of this you know, because the sociopath set down on the wrong bench! Bravo!

A dying goat, though, and he simply cannot cope with it, so he does things like this. On purpose.
I wonder what would the reaction be if it was the opposite. A total disrespecs and Federer, AGAIN, showing his real face...

A dying goat, though, and he simply cannot cope with it, so he does things like this. On purpose.
I wonder what would the reaction be if it was the opposite. A total disrespecs and Federer, AGAIN, showing his real face...

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But the whole world loves Roger whatever he does. He has that magnetism. Anyway, at least Roger never has long absences from the tour. I like that consistency, so he is always there for his fans to enjoy. Pity, us Rafa fans never have that.

A dying goat, though, and he simply cannot cope with it, so he does things like this. On purpose.
I wonder what would the reaction be if it was the opposite. A total disrespecs and Federer, AGAIN, showing his real face...

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Exactly. Thank goodnes they have careers unlike some sociopaths throughout history such as austrian ones in post ww1 who lost their careers and demonized the world.

But the whole world loves Roger whatever he does. He has that magnetism. Anyway, at least Roger never has long absences from the tour. I like that consistency, so he is always there for his fans to enjoy. Pity, us Rafa fans never have that.

A dying goat, though, and he simply cannot cope with it, so he does things like this. On purpose.
I wonder what would the reaction be if it was the opposite. A total disrespecs and Federer, AGAIN, showing his real face...

It would make sense if it was 2008. Federer lost's his top ranking in 2008, regained it in 2009, lost it once more in 2010 and regained it in 2012. Why would he wait till the last match of 2012 to throw such a tantrum, huh, Sherlock? What was it for?

Roddick was easy prey for Roger. He could beat him with his eyes closed. Poor Andy! Roger prevented him from winning more slams. Each slam final he got to, he met Roger in the final! OUCH! Wimbledon 2005! Roger was on FIRE!. Rod could never then add to his lone USO! Very sad.

It would make sense if it was 2008. Federer lost's his top ranking in 2008, regained it in 2009, lost it once more in 2010 and regained it in 2012. Why would he wait till the last match of 2012 to throw such a tantrum, huh, Sherlock? What was it for?

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You realize that we are talking about the WTF and the "seating rule" that applies there.
You also realize that we are talking about the final against Djokovic, the opponent Federer does not like and the opponent that took away the #1 spot from him and the opponine that has been kicking his *** the most lately.

How, do not get too emotional about your Swiss hero, but use your brain and add things up and it will become clear to you why the stuck up did it.

Yes, I do not like Federer, however, I fully acknowledge his great contribution to tennis and his game greatness.
Outside of the court, he is a totally different "contributor"